and independent audits will guarantee the money... goes where it's supposed to. krystal conwell: i think people should vote for question... seven because i think it will be a great benefit to children. . hello. thank you for joining us. i'm jc hayward. eight been nearly 40 years since the nationals franchise claimed the division title. now they're going to the playoffs. kristin fisher has more on last

night's win. >> reporter: the washington nationals stormed the field wearing the new division t- shirts. it didn't take long before they were soaked with champagne. now every nats fan want as piece of history. >> i saw somebody wearing one of these last night, and i was forced to leave a little earlier to try to beat the traffic out of south capitol street. >> reporter: james and dozens of other nats fans flocked to the store tuesday morning. the store opened an hour and a half early so the fans could get their hands on all the official championship merchandise. >> i am buying for my nieces, family, friends. >> reporter: if you come on down to modell's, you have three options. there's the gray championship t- shirt that all the players were wearing last night. there's the red championship t- shirt that has all of the players' names on the back, but

the real jewel is this playoff hat. a spokeswoman for the washington nationals told me they expect this hat to sell out first. >> it's a big win, you know. been a long time. >> reporter: 79 years to be exact. that's the last time the d.c. baseball team played in the post-season which makes this merchandise all the more valuable until there's perhaps dare i say a new t-shirt with a new and better title? >> they're going to win the world series this year. >> reporter: in washington, kristin fisher, 9news now. >> where the nationals play next remains up in the air. if they have a better record than the reds or tie them for the best after the season ends, then the nationals will have home field advantage through the playoffs. they'll play the winner of the wild card game on sunday on the road. if the reds finish with a better record, the nationals will take on the giants in the first round. that series will begin saturday

in san francisco. authorities have dropped the preliminary investigation into another rape case involving former imf chair dominique straws kahn. we're looking at him during the 2011 rape scandal that forced him to step down from the imf. that's when a maid in a new york hotel falsely accused him of sexual assault. the charges were later dropped. right now president obama and his republican rival are preparing for tomorrow night's first presidential debate. the outcome the debates could help decide the election. tara mergener reports that both campaigns are downplaying expectations. >> reporter: workers are setting the stage for wednesday night's presidential debate at the university of denver. both candidates are behind closed doors today getting ready. mitt romney is preparing in colorado and the latest polls

show he is trailing the president in most swing states. >> we can do this. >> reporter: his running mate paul ryan is on a bus tour working to sway voters in iowa. >> our goal is to earn your support. we want to deserve this victory. >> reporter: vice president joe biden is in the battle ground state of north carolina today while president obama studies for the debate in nevada. he is holding practice sessions with former presidential candidate john kerry playing the part of mitt romney. on monday the president called campaign volunteers and told one of them what debate preparation is like. >> they're keeping me indoors all the time. it's a drag. they're making me do my homework. >> reporter: the stakes are high for wednesday's debate but both the white house and the romney campaign are trying to lower expectations. neither side wants their candidate to take the stage with a perceived advantage. the polls show most americans believe obama will win the first debate. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: but historically

it's the challenger who usually gets a boost. >> less important than what they say is how they appear. do they treat their rival with respect? do they connect with the audience? do they respond at the moment when they have to react? how do they look? how do they seem? >> reporter: the debate could have an immediate impact because early voting is ready under way in a couple of swing states. tara mrnlgenner -- mergener for cbs news, the white house. for months now we have been getting both sides' opinion on the presidential election, but now it is time for just the facts. we are your go-to station for wednesday night's first debate between president obama and governor romney. 9news now is teaming up with our sister paper "u.s.a. today" and beginning at 9:00 p.m., "u.s.a. today" reporters will be fact checking exactly what the candidates say. and you can watch the analysis live on our website wusa9.com. this morning "u.s.a. today" white house

correspondent aamer talked with andrea roane about what we can expect. >> as far as substantively, i have a hard time believing there's going to be this huge big policy announced in a debate. that just doesn't happen. what's remembered about the debates are the small moments. you're likable enough, i knew john f. kennedy. >> again, you can watch the debate and get instant truth analysis from a team of "u.s.a. today" reporters live tomorrow night on wusa9.com. then at 11:00, derek mcginty will be at "u.s.a. today" headquarters for deeper analysis of the hits, the runs, the errors of the first presidential debate. about 100 metro riders had to walk down a rain soaked broken escalator at dupont circle this morning. many were turned away because

metro crews deemed that the escalators were unsafe. this is just one of a string of problems that metro has faced in recent weeks. metro riders that we talked to say they are fed up. >> the other one won't run so they don't let people walk down the one that's not running. everybody stands in the rain waiting for one escalator to work. >> reporter: does it make sense? >> i'm sure there's very good reason that everything metro decides to do. >> crews have repaired the escalators so they should be fine for the evening commute. and it was a hectic commute this morning for drivers who take rockville pike. about 26 traffic lights were out. montgomery county police were directing traffic at other intersections -- directing traffic. at other intersections, people had to just stop and make their

way across. nearly 500 pepco customers are affected. pepco says the power should be restored by this afternoon. still to come, a group that favors voter i.d. laws makes their case by finding dead voters in maryland maryland... also, try and enjoy the rainy weather if you can. howard says we're going to get more summer like temperatures in just a few days. we'll be right back.

there is a local museum in prince george's county that is dedicated to highlighting the achievements and contributions of african-americans in prince george's county. they're having their first

annual gala on saturday. i'm delighted to have as my guest today dr. jacqueline brown. she is the executive director of the prince george's county african-american museum and cultural center. it's located in north brentwood. she's also my sorority sister and my dear friend. i'm so proud of her. this museum is so special to you. why? >> it's special because it allows us to tell the story that hasn't been told. and, you know, if you don't tell your own story, then it kind of gets told in a different way. the whole purpose is to be able to answer the question of what is it that we have to be so proud of in terms of the cultural, the artistic, and the educational contributions of african-americans from precolonial times to making this county what it is today. i learned something -- i learn

something new every day from my staff, from my exhibitors, and the programming is amazing. the other thing is we needed to be more than just a museum. we needed to be a cultural center which means we take the culture to the people as well as have the people come to us and we ask everybody in prince george's county. the culture of african- americans is a never ending story. what are you going to contribute to the next chapter? >> i'm just happy that you've asked me to be a part of the gail la. it's saturday at mar -- gala. it's saturday. it's at martins crosswinds. tickets are available. if you go to jchayward.com, there is a link to the museum and you can get more information. and the money that is garnered from this gala will go towards the museum. >> it goes towards the museum. it goes towards programs which are actually award winning programs. award winning programs for kids and also the history keepers program which is our partnership with the community

college where we're growing our own interns in the tourism business of museums. >> wonderful, wonderful. so for more information, don't forget go to jchayward.com. the gala is saturday. you can get a ticket. i'm going to be there with dr. brown. we're going to have a fabulous time at martins cross winds. we're going to take a break. 9news now will be back with howard. stay with us. too many americans are struggling to find work

in today's economy. too many of those who are working are living paycheck to paycheck trying to make falling incomes meet rising prices

for food and gas. more americans are living in poverty than when president obama took office and fifteen million more are on food stamps. president obama and i both care about poor and middle-class families. the difference is my policies will make things better for them. we shouldn't measure compassion by how many people are on welfare. we should measure compassion by how many people are able to get off welfare and get a good paying job. my plan will create twelve million new jobs over the next four years helping lift families out of poverty and strengthening the middle-class. i'm mitt romney and i approve this message because we can't afford another four years like the last four years. ♪ ive i've been comb -- i've been combing through the

retailer websites to find you deep discounts and we have the ninja and nutella edition. $99 gets you a day of ninja training. this includes knife fighting skills with rubber knives, hard- core training, an obstacle course and at the end of the day you get a real anyone ya sword and hood. this is a hundred dollars off the price at urban evolution in alexandria and manassas. here's a deal. a touch screen computer with four gigs of memory and 500 gig hard drive. 499 bucks. you're saving $150. this deal is on bestbuy.com. a delicious planning note. nutella has a food truck. it's traveling around the country and it will be rolling through d.c. from october 16 through the 20th. the food truck will be giving away tasty free samples. if you have an offer you've seen or you're a local merchant with a deal for our viewers, i

would love to hear from you on facebook. i'm jessica doyle, 9news now. a watchdog group claims that they have found hundreds of registered maryland voters with something in common. they're all dead. the organization doing the digging is an advocate for voter identification laws. we take a look at their research. >> reporter: finding voters dead or alive. what are we flipping through? >> these are deceased voters that remain active on the voter rolls. >> reporter: election integrity maryland says its research shows rufus harris who died in 2002 voted in 2008. other names registered after death are james procter of laurel who died in '88 and registered in '92. and virginia given of upper marlboro who died in 1991 and

registered in 1992. >> out of 11,000 challenges that we filed, 1500-plus were of deceased voters that have been allowed to stay on the voter rolls. >> reporter: eim says it also found a woman in a nursing home with two voter registrations who doesn't remember voting since 2006. >> and yet her voter registrations have been used consecutively in all even year elections, primary and general elections. >> reporter: and here's where the state board of elections weighs in. >> they did say there was one 67-year-old voter who's residing in a nursing home. they said has registered twice, has been voting multiple times in different elections. there's no evidence to support that claim. so we do have to be very careful with this information and we do check everything to make sure that it's accurate. >> reporter: the board of elections intends to check the other names in the report emphasizing that it needs stronger verification than what the watchdog may have found.

>> that was pat warren reporting. i want to show you something because critics for the cure, howard, has a new -- critters for the cure, howard has a new calendar out. >> i recognize the cover. >> i'll tell you who's in it. andrea roane and also anita brikman with her lovely dog. this is andrea. >> beautiful. >> you on the cover. >> critters for the cure. go to jchayward.com and i'll have information where you can -- and you can support research for cancer. that's what this is doing. let's talk about the rain we had. it really was pouring this morning. good news is, well, it's washed out the allergy counts so the air is clean but also the heaviest stuff has pulled away. day planner for the rest of the afternoon. we're still going to see a few showers, even areas of drizzle north and west. you're probably going to struggle to get to the low 70s

but areas south and east of town will be in the mid-70s. maybe even near 80 in southern maryland. it's not going to be raining like it was this morning but we still have a few heavier showers out there to go through during the afternoon. first pitch tonight, nats, phillies, 7:05. 75 degrees. there could be a shower tonight for the ballgame. winds southeast 7 miles an hour. you notice the rains we had this morning. but now northeastern maryland all the way up toward north of new york getting into the hudson valley, that's where the heavy rains are. locally we are looking at a couple of showers still. heavy one southern montgomery county. this is coming from near the american legion bridge here coming toward bethesda, fairland. columbia, this is going to get you in the next half-hour. some other areas charles and st. mary's counties lifting toward the northeast. prince frederick, watch out. headed your way. we had so much rain earlier. some areas around 3isms. i think it was mount pony road here we had flooding and route 3 where some of the water was

over the road there. so culpeper east to the fauquier county line, a flood warning in effect till this afternoon. temperatures low 60s still with the clouds, drizzle. a few showers north and west. mid-70s however to our south and east and easton and cambridge, you've hardly had any rain. temperature now 79. outside on our michael & son weather camera, i'm going to step out of the way. it is dreary looking here in northwest d.c. with some drizzle. a couple of showers still going o. 68 degrees. humidity 94% and a north, northeast wind at 8 miles an hour. so a little boundary between us and the bay right now. you can see the moisture flowing in from are florida northward but the bulk of it north and east of us. we may with a little luck see a peek of sunshine this afternoon. that may be a lot of luck. we'll still see a couple of showers here and there but the worst of the rains have pulled away from us to the north. so today 78.

that might even be wishful thinking here in d.c. but certainly south and east you're going to make it. tonight 60s to about 70. could be patchy fog, a leftover shower. tomorrow 84 degrees. yes, an isolated shower. a warm wednesday. a warm thursday, 82. as we head toward the weekend, friday 80. the weekend features a front which will turn us much cooler by early next week. we'll be back with more 9 news now at noon right after this. weeks of this campaign... and more ads. you, in your living room or... what i'd say. losing nearly eight hundred... mired in iraq. nation we are... moving forward again. get folks back to work and... again. that with even bigger... fewer regulations... prosper. on the same trickle-down... in the first place. so what's my plan? manufacturing jobs... exports... that... ship jobs overseas. in half and produce more... clean coal, natural gas... solar, and biofuels. efficiency of cars and trucks. maintain the best workforce... hundred thousand additional... training two million... they need at our community... tuition in half and... americans can afford it. reduce our deficit by... next decade, on top of the... already cut. little more. afghanistan... pay down our debt and... nation-building... right here at home. patriotism, rooted in the... begins with a strong... thriving middle class. read my plan. and decide for yourself. thanks for listening. this message.

we are celebrating international socky week. to celebrate this restaurant located in baltimore has sensitive any with an array of beverages so that we can get into it. i too, like it.

what are you going to prepare today? >> what i'm going to do is find a couple that would be perfect for you. that's sort of what our restaurant is tailored to. we have 102 lists. >> i like sour martinis. >> knowing you like apple martinis and vodka and a little citrus, i would start with this. it's by a brewery -- [indiscernible] it's the second highest quality level for sockeye. you taste a

little more alcohol on the second sip. >> i am in favor of everyone drinking. you're also a champagne lover. >> i love champagne. >> this is a very special socky, the sparkling, the highest quality. >> i never had a sparkling one. >> most people haven't but we have several on our list. >> again the restaurant is in baltimore next door to the four seasons hoe team. i love the four seasons. look how sparkling that is. how does it taste? >> world socky week we're celebrating. >> let's raise a gas. cheers.

-- raise a glass. cheers. international sock eye week. upper 70s. warm the next few days. maybe a shower or to tomorrow as well. a great calendar, critters for the cure, jc. congratulations. >> thank you and to all those who contributed to that calendar. come back and visit us at 5:00. bye-bye. too many americans are struggling to find work in today's economy. too many of those who are working are living paycheck to paycheck trying to make falling incomes meet rising prices for food and gas. more americans are living in poverty than when president obama took office and fifteen million more are on food stamps. president obama and i both care about poor and middle-class families. the difference is my policies will make things better

for them. we shouldn't measure compassion by how many people are on welfare. we should measure compassion by how many people are able to get off welfare and get a good paying job. my plan will create twelve million new jobs over the next four years helping lift families out of poverty and strengthening the middle-class. i'm mitt romney and i approve this message because we can't afford another four years like the last four years. ♪